Writing for Vaudeville eBook

The title of a song is the advertising line, and therefore
it must be the most attractive in your song.
It is the whole song summed up in one line.
It may be a single word or a half-dozen words.
It is not the punch line always. It is often
the very first line of the chorus, but it is usually
the last line.

There is little need for constructive thought in choosing
a title. All that is necessary is to select the
best advertising line already written. You have
only to take the most prominent line and write it
at the top of your lyrics. Study the titles of
the songs in this chapter and you will see how easy
it is to select your title after you have written
your song.

To sum up: a great lyric is as necessary to
the success of a popular song as a great melody, but
not more necessary. A lyric is a verse that
conveys a great deal of emotion. Most popular
songs have two verses and one chorus. A regular
metre is rare; irregularity may even be a virtue.
The regular occurrence of rhymes and precise rhymes
are not necessary—­but it is better to strive
after regularity and precision. There are five
lyrical measures common to all poetry, but you may
break every rule if you only break a record.
Rhythm—­the swing—­is the secret
of successful songs. Every lyric must have one
or more punch lines—­which may occur at the
end of each verse, but must be found in the last lines
of the chorus. Contrast—­either of
idea, poetic measure or music—­is one sure
way of securing the punch. Love is the greatest
single element that makes for success in a song idea.
The one-word standard of popular-song writing is
simplicity—­music easy to sing, words
easy to say, the idea simple and plain.

CHAPTER XXIII

WRITING THE POPULAR SONG

In the preceding chapters we saw how the elements
of a popular song are nearly identical in music and
in lyrics, no matter how the styles of songs may differ.
In this chapter we shall see how these elements may
be combined—­irrespective of styles—­into
a song that the boy on the street will whistle, and
the hand organs grind out until you nearly go mad
with the repetition of its rhythm.

Not only because it will be interesting, but because
such an insight will help to a clear understanding
of methods I shall ask you to glance into a popular
song publisher’s professional department.

I. A POPULAR SONG IN THE MAKING

A very large room—­an entire floor, usually—­is
divided into a reception room, where vaudeville and
cabaret performers are waiting their turns to rehearse,
and half-a-dozen little rooms, each containing a piano.
As the walls of these rooms are never very thick,
and often are mere partitions running only two-thirds
of the way to the ceiling, the discord of conflicting
songs is sometimes appalling. Every once in
a while some performer comes to the manager of the
department and insists on being rehearsed by the writers
of the latest song-hit themselves. And as often
as not the performer is informed that the writers
are out. In reality, perhaps, they are working
on a new song in a back room. Being especially
privileged, let us go into that back room and watch
them at work.